Dubai businessman sets marathon world record

The Dubai businessman is ending the year as a Guinness World Records title holder for achieving the “fastest time to complete a marathon on each continent (male).”

Nizar Fakhoury trained six days a week for six months to prepare for the Triple 7 Quest challenge. Christopher Pike / The National

DUBAI // Nizar Fakhoury was anything but athletic while growing up in Lebanon.

But the Dubai businessman will be getting a Guinness World Records title this year for achieving the “fastest time to complete a marathon on each continent”.

“I come from a background where as a child I wasn’t active at all. I didn’t play any sports in school. No football, no basketball, nothing, ” says the 35-year-old.

Although Mr Fakhoury accomplished the feat in February after completing the Triple 7 Quest – a race involving seven marathons on seven continents in seven days – he only received confirmation of his achievement from the Guinness office last week.

“I still don’t believe it,” he says.

What is even more astonishing about Mr Fakhoury’s rare accomplishment is the fact that he was neither an experienced runner nor an ultramarathoner when he signed up for the race.

“I had never run a marathon in my life. I didn’t even know what it felt like to run a marathon,” he says.

But Mr Fakhoury did have five years of experience climbing mountains, which Moustapha Mroueh, a fellow Triple 7 Quest participant, says helped Mr Fakhoury.

“He was definitely fit but not a runner before, so he started running a few months before the challenge,” says Mr Mroueh, who persuaded Mr Fakhoury to enter the race. “I was always pushing him, I knew he could do it. He has what it takes. He had the right mindset.”

Mr Fakhoury started climbing mountains in his late 20s after taking stock of his corporate life and its toll on his health.

“I didn’t see myself adding any value whatsoever to my life or to the life of others while in the corporate world,” he says.

So he quit his job marketing soft drinks and launched his own business in Dubai about two and a half years ago. His company, Urban Peak, sells camping and outdoor recreational gear.

The Lebanese also started volunteering and launched Climb for Cancer, which organises an annual mountain climb to raise money for UAE patients.

When Mr Mroueh first approached him about the Triple 7 Quest, Mr Fakhoury was not persuaded because of his lack of running experience.

“But he persisted that I join and since I love taking on new challenges in my life, I eventually agreed and I signed up for the race,” Mr Fakhoury says.

In the six months leading up to the race, he trained six days a week with two personal trainers. One focused on building his endurance and strength. Another, a professional running coach, helped him with his technique.

Three months before the race, Mr Fakhoury ran his first marathon in Beirut for practice.

When it was time for the seven marathons, Mr Fakhoury set his mind simply on finishing the races: the Carlton Classic Marathon in Australia, the Abu Dhabi Striders Marathon in Asia, the Torcy International Marathon in Europe, the Carthage Race Marathon in Africa, the Lincoln’s Birthday Marathon in North America, the Southern Cross Marathon in South America, and the Penguin Marathon in Antarctica.

The races are supposed to be run on consecutive days, but weather conditions delayed the Antarctica race by three days.

In the end, Mr Fakhoury was the first to cross the finish line in the final race, making him the overall winner of the seven-continent race. He ran faster than all his fellow participants when his race times were tallied.

His combined time for all the races was 35 hours, 2 minutes and 48 seconds. The fact that he completed the Triple 7 Quest within 10 days, 23 hours, 10 minutes and 12 seconds was enough to set a world record.

Joao Arteche, an Iron Man competitor and endurance trainer in Dubai who Mr Fakhoury hired to be his trainer, knew Mr Fakhoury had a strong climbing and trekking background.

But Mr Arteche had to work on helping Mr Fakhoury adapt his body for running long distances.

Mr Arteche says he thought Mr Fakhoury was crazy when his client told him that he would be racing in the Triple 7 Quest.

But the two quickly got to work on getting Mr Fakhoury ready for the challenge, and Mr Arteche says he soon saw his client’s potential. “He is very strong, very dedicated,” he says.